C & P Mental Health Appointment

Joker38

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
I was wondering if anyone has recently been though a C & P exam for mental health and if so, what can I expect? Is it just being asked a series of questions, are they going to make me do psych tests like the MMPI, etc. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.
 
For me it went like this: I was escorted into a room that contained a desk & computer, with a chair in front of it. The psychologist sat at the computer and started off with some small talk, then went into my military background, then the history of my MH conditions, how I feel now, how work is going, relationships, etc.. It was very conversational but she was obviously hitting certain wickets. It was not unpleasant, the only odd thing is divulging your issues and life story to a doc that is not there to treat or help you. Overall, it was not a bad experience. I saw a civilian doc through QTC.
 
For me it went like this: I was escorted into a room that contained a desk & computer, with a chair in front of it. The psychologist sat at the computer and started off with some small talk, then went into my military background, then the history of my MH conditions, how I feel now, how work is going, relationships, etc.. It was very conversational but she was obviously hitting certain wickets. It was not unpleasant, the only odd thing is divulging your issues and life story to a doc that is not there to treat or help you. Overall, it was not a bad experience. I saw a civilian doc through QTC.

I am also going through QTC. I much prefer talking to a real person than doing computer based evals like the one I did last year.
 
There are two different DBQs for mental health one for PTSD and one for everything else. Download them from the va website and look then over. These are the forms that your MH CP examiner will be filling out as they question you.

Also be familiar with the following:

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as:
gross impairment in thought processes or communication;
persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate
behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent
inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance
of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory
loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name 100

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas,
such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,
due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals
which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,
obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting
the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively;
impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods
of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and
hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including
work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain
effective relationships 70

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and
productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial,
circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once
a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment
of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned
material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired
abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in
establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships 50

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work
efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational
tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine
behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms
as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or
less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as
forgetting names, directions, recent events) 30

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms
which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational
tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled
by continuous medication 10

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not
severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social
functioning or to require continuous medication 0
 
A good example is they will ask about relationships now look at the criteria above. Do you have “difficulty” in establishing and maintaining relationships or is it more like a complete “inability” to establish and maintain relationships? The difference is a 50% bullet or a 70% one. If you claim “inability” have some examples. For me it was blocking lifelong friends and even my own mother on both my cell phone and all social media.... and then moving 6 states away from them.

This is just one example. Think of how each of these criteria AND the DBQ relate to your specific MH issues.
 
Be truthful and not ashamed or hesitant to fully explain how your condition impacts your life, work, and relationships. The VA contracted a QTC provider to conduct my exam, it lasted for about 45 minutes and was conversational in nature. She had my record and asked specific questions related to events/ dates, asked questions about my deployments, family life, and completed a "checklist" on her computer as she asked questions.
 
They wanted to do mine via teleconference and I refused. Too paranoid for that so I rescheduled and did it at the VA. They did give me the MMPI. That was part of it. The narrative took about an hour. Good luck.
 
I did mine two days ago actually.

Like the first response said, it was a room with a chair and a doctor with very specific questions based on an online questionnaire. That being said, she genuinely cared about what I had to say. They will have your health records in front of them. If you have already been diagnosed, they will know that. They aren't trying to undo the diagnosis, just get a feel for the severity. I personally was not good about ensuring my responses matched into a certain ratings category. I just answered candidly and it was over in about 20 minutes. If you're gearing towards a specific rating, definitely look at the criteria for each percentage.

From what I could tell, the depth of the information they have about you is pretty shallow. They knew my diagnosis and why it was diagnosed but not much beyond that. You will have to give some backstory and context for things.
 
So I read through the DBQ. What questions do they actually ask though? The DBQ questions seem like the provider would have to ask other questions to answer.
 
UPDATE: I completed the exam on Monday. It was a brief 45 minute exam, no further testing, just a bunch of Q & A with a doc. Not sure if I did a great job of relating my answers to a particular rating, although it did feel like he was asking me questions that would seem to fit in the 70% range.
 
If you don't mind, what did they ask? I looked through the DBQ and it really didn't seem to have much. I go to my appointment next week and want to be prepared.
 
If you don't mind, what did they ask? I looked through the DBQ and it really didn't seem to have much. I go to my appointment next week and want to be prepared.

Some of it was just general background information, family history, where I grew up and that sort of thing. Then they asked more specific questions, such as do I have suicidal thoughts, any compulsive behavior, am I able to maintain relationships, how often do I have anxiety attacks, etc. Like I said, it felt a lot like they were reading questions direct from the 70% rating list. I did my best to answer them in line with that rating, but guess I will find out when my proposed ratings come in. Hope this helps.
 
I had the same experience. He even asked me who my previous C&P doc was and said something to the effect of 'he has a history of low-balling people. Clearly your symptoms are long-past the level of your current rating.' I doubt they're supposed to say such things, but I appreciated the candor. When my NARSUM came back, the Q&A and narrative portions accurately described the exam, but the box was checked for my current rating :mad:

I was mostly pissed just because he went out of his way to bash the other doc for low-balling and suggest my rating was too low. Bigmouth....

Before this even started I had no expectation that my rating could even possibly be raised, so I concurred and moved on, but I can see how other people could get screwed by the disparity between the exam and what box the doc happens to tick.
 
Last edited:
Top